Skinner Fine Paintings and Prints Auction to Feature Works by Dunning, Peterson and Escher

Skinner, Inc will host an auction of American & European Paintings & Prints on Friday, May 20^th at noon in the Boston gallery. The sale offers wonderfully fresh material from a number of well-established estates and private collections including works from Robert Spear Dunning, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, and Carl Spitzweg, among others.

Through the estate of Selma H. and Irving M. Sobin are several works including Karl Schmidt-Rottluff’s Hayfield with Storm Clouds. Schmidt-Rottluff was a founding member of “Die Brücke,” a group that sought to express “…rejection of the older forces of the establishment” through art. The radical anti-academic model they championed helped bring Expressionism into acceptance. By the time Schmidt-Rottluff received public acclaim for his work, the Nazis denounced it as “degenerate,” and banned him from painting. He resumed art-making after the war and the Sobins exhibited the present work in 1958. Lot 478 is estimated at $35,000 to $55,000.

From another private collection is Robert Spear Dunning’s Still Life with Root Vegetables.

Co-founder of the Fall River School, Dunning was known as a master of reflective surfaces and for ornate Victorian still lifes inspired by the influx of wealth coming into the area following the Civil War. His pieces often incorporate ripened fruit, flowers and opulent objects set on highly polished tabletops. While it was an unusual choice to paint root vegetables in a worn brass pot, the piece offers all the hallmarks of his style with the meticulous detail as evidenced in his more showy works. Lot 364 is estimated at $70,000 to $90,000.

Great German Expressionist prints include Conrad Felixmüller’s Bildnis Max Liebermann, lot 75, estimated at $1,000 to $1,500 and Emil Nolde’s Frau N (Frau Ada Nolde), lot 147, valued at $8,000 to $12,000. The sale also features a highly recognizable M.C. Escher print, Belvedere, lot 72, estimated at $8,000 to $12,000 as well as a good grouping of photographs, a much expanded offering from previous sales.

Previews, Catalog and Bidding

Previews for the auction will be held on Wed, May 18^th from 12 to 5 p.m., on Thurs, May 19^th  from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Fri, May 20^th from 9 to 10:30 a.m. The Thursday evening preview will feature a reception and gallery walk beginning at 5:30 p.m. R.S.V.P. to 617-350-5400.  Illustrated catalog #2547B is available by mail for $35 ($42 for foreign requests) from the subscription department at 508-970-3240.  It is also available at the gallery for $32. Auction results will be available on the Skinner website during and after the sale. Skinner's site also allows users to view all lots in the auctions, leave bids, order catalogues, and bid live in real-time through SkinnerLive! For more information, visit www.skinnerinc.com or call 508-970-3000.